


Owl Post

by Kiraly



Series: HogwartSSSS AU [2]
Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Epistolary, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 12:28:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16597922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiraly/pseuds/Kiraly
Summary: An exchange of letters between Reynir and Onni over the summer holidays, plus what happens one stormy night after Reynir's letters go unanswered.OR, Hogwarts AU in which Kitty is an owl, Reynir is a muggle-born Hufflepuff doing his best, and the Hotakainens are a mess as usual.





	Owl Post

**Author's Note:**

> I blame this on [Synchronised Screaming](https://stillsyns.tumblr.com) chat, where someone prompted "Owl Post" for these two for epistolary prompt week. Since I am weak for epistolary fic and I couldn't get the idea of a Hogwarts AU out of my head, I took the prompt and ran with it. What was meant to be a flash fic ended up a massive chain of headcanons, which may or may not spawn other chapters or other fics if people are interested.
> 
> I know there have been a few other Hogwarts AUs floating around over the years, but I can't remember which houses people had the characters sorted into. I've made some decisions for this particular AU, which I'll slap on the end in case people are interested or want to read more about a certain character.
> 
>  **Edit:** Since this idea decided to grow into a series, I've made one for it. If you're coming to this story for the first time after reading _Flying Lessons_ , just be aware that it takes place a few years later - it's set after Reynir's third year of Hogwarts and Onni's fourth.

_Dear Onni,_

_Hi! I hope your summer holiday is going well! Okay, I know it’s only been a day, but I couldn’t wait to write you. Owls are faster than the regular post, so I think this will get to you soon. (Still not as fast as email though. Or texting. If your grandmother will let you come visit, I will teach you about texting)._

_So far I haven’t really done anything exciting with my summer, but it’s nice to be home. My parents are really happy to have me back (Mum keeps bursting into tears and hugging me, I wish she’d stop) and my brothers and sisters keep asking me questions about “Magic School” when they stop by. I’m still not sure if they believe everything I’m telling them, but it’s not like I can demonstrate. Anyway, they all say the owl is a very cool pet. Kisa seems to be settling in well, she already brought me a dead mouse after hunting last night._

_How are you? Did you manage to get back home without Lalli getting sick? He was looking a little green on the train, but maybe that was just his Slytherin robes._

_Anyway, Mum is calling me for dinner, so I should go. Please tell Tuuri and Lalli I said hello, and write back soon!_

_Yours,_

_Reynir_

* * *

 

_Reynir,_

_Summer has barely even started, and already you’re bored enough to write to me? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Tuuri says I have no room to talk, since I’m writing back to you (stop reading over my shoulder, Tuuri) but obviously I can’t keep your owl here forever. Sending her back without a reply would be rude. Shut up, Tuuri, I can be polite if I want to. Go away and let me write._

_Now that she’s gone, I’ll tell you that my summer has been uneventful. It has, after all, only been two days. Lalli felt better after we got off the train. At least I assume he feels better, he spends most of his time under his bed._

_I don’t know how Grandmother would feel about letting me visit a muggle family. She doesn’t like to leave our village, and it’s all wizarding families here. But I will ask._

_Onni_

* * *

 

_Dear Onni,_

_Thanks for writing back! I miss being able to talk to you whenever I want. It was nice to start the day with our breakfast chats (even if it was mostly me doing the talking). My house is too quiet, Mum and Dad are out working and my siblings are off having their own lives. I already did all my chores, and it’s not even lunch time yet. I think exams must have gotten to me; I don’t remember what it’s like to have free time._

_It’s funny how different things seem here after another year at school. I used to think sheep were a lot of work, but now that I’ve spent so much time in Care of Magical Creatures class, they’re mostly just boring. They can’t shoot fire or poison you or anything! I will say this though, they’re still more interesting than flobberworms. Even if they do have more or less the same diet. I had to chase one out of the garden earlier, she was going for the lettuce and got very upset when I stopped her. What I want to know is, how did she get there in the first place? Can sheep apparate?_

_I hope you are having a nice time with your family. Say hello to Tuuri for me, assuming she isn’t already reading this (hi Tuuri!) Have you asked your grandmother about visiting yet? I know I’ve made it sound pretty dull around here, but I think it will be livelier with you around. Write back soon!_

_Yours,_

_Reynir_

* * *

 

_Reynir,_

_Breakfast is quiet here too. Tuuri is not much of a morning person, and by now you know better than to expect noise from Lalli. It’s peaceful._

_Nothing much ever changes here, so your dull day is lively by comparison. Grandmother expects us to keep up our studies even in summer—she says lazy wizards make mistakes, and there’s no room for mistakes here. I have been reading my textbooks for next year with some supplemental materials from our library, to get a head start on my O.W.L.s. Trust me when I say, your runaway sheep would have been a welcome distraction._

_I am still waiting for an opportunity to speak to Grandmother. There are several important matters we need to discuss, including your invitation and some paperwork I need to send to the Ministry. Grandmother has been very busy with her work though. Every time I bring the papers and try to find her, she gets called away on business and does not return until late. I promise I will ask as soon as I am able._

_Tuuri says hello from over my shoulder, now that she has finally gotten out of bed._

_Onni_

* * *

 

_Dear Onni,_

_Wow! Studying all summer. I don’t know whether to be impressed or worried. I mean, I’m definitely impressed, you always work so hard and you’re already so good at magic! But I hope you have some time to relax, too._

_If anyone needs to study, it’s me. I’m afraid I’ll forget everything I learned and have to do my third year all over again. I tried to look through one of my textbooks, but I got distracted and went out to watch the sheep instead. (No comments about wool between my ears, please, I’ve heard them all). The thing I really need to practice is flying, though. Now that I have my own broom, I’m sure I can make the Hufflepuff Quidditch team next year! I tried to convince Mum and Dad to let me go flying, but they said no because someone might see me. We don’t even have neighbors! Who’s going to see, the sheep? For muggles, Mum and Dad sure know a lot about the International Statute of Secrecy. I think school must have sent home a pamphlet._

_It would be really, really, really great if you came to visit, Onni. Not just because you’re better company than the sheep. I think we could manage to have a proper holiday and get some studying done to keep your grandmother happy. I promise to focus better if she lets you come!_

_I hope you got all your paperwork done and sent by now. Is that for the super-secret project you were working on last year? The one that had you looking through all those legal books and asking how to get forms from the Ministry? I wish you could tell me what it’s all about, but I know you have your reasons._

_Oh! I almost forgot, Sigrun wrote to me and asked if I knew anything about “what’s going on” with Lalli and Emil. Apparently she visited the Västerströms with her family and she thought she saw Lalli there? But that’s silly, they don’t live anywhere near you. Maybe Emil has another friend who looks like him?_

_Anyway, good luck with your studying and with talking to your grandmother. Write back soon!_

_Yours,_

_Reynir_

* * *

 

_Reynir,_

_If Sigrun wants to know what is going on with my family, she should just ask us instead of gossiping. She writes Tuuri often enough, I’m sure she can get all the details there._

_Studying is important, but there’s time for that when you get back to school. As for flying, the ISoS doesn’t prohibit flying on brooms as long as you’re somewhere muggles can’t see. Go at dusk if your parents are worried._

_I can’t talk about that project as you know. Paperwork is still giving me problems. Grandmother is still busy. Nothing much else to report._

_Onni_

* * *

 

_Dear Onni,_

_Is everything okay? Your last letter was kind of...short. Not like the length, although that was short too, but like...your temper was. Did I say something wrong? I’m sorry about Sigrun, I didn’t know it would upset you to ask! I just thought it was funny, the idea of Lalli having a double and Emil being friends with both of them._

_I guess if your secret project and your paperwork are giving you trouble, you probably have a lot on your mind. I wish you could tell me, just so you wouldn’t have to keep it all to yourself and get more upset. It’s so much easier at school, isn’t it? We don’t have to wait for owls, we can just say what we mean. This is where I would usually say “I wish we could do a video call!” but I know you don’t know what that is and the last time I explained it you said your head hurt. Still, I wish we could. It’s so strange that we have all this magic and we can’t even manage a wifi connection._

_The offer to visit still stands, of course. Maybe it would help with your stress? I know I love my family, but sometimes being around each other can be a bit...much. A break could be just what you need._

_Write back soon, if you can._

_Yours,_

_Reynir_

* * *

 

_Reynir,_

_I’m the one who should apologize. Things are complicated here, and I took it out on you. I’m sorry for that, and that I can’t be open with you. I know you want that. I just...can’t._

_Also, I’m sorry to disappoint you but I don’t think my grandmother will agree to a visit. Maybe it would be best if we didn’t write for a while. Enjoy the rest of your summer._

_Onni_

* * *

 

Reynir slumped back on his pillows with a sigh, letting the parchment fall to the floor. Two weeks with no word from Onni. He couldn’t help worrying, but there was nothing else he _could_ do. He’d sent Kisa with more letters, of course, asking if Onni was _sure_ he couldn’t help somehow. She came back with no replies.

Thunder boomed, making Reynir jump and Kisa shiver in her cage. The attic bedroom had always been Reynir’s favorite place in a storm. He could wrap up in blankets, cozy and warm while rain pounded on the roof and the sky tore itself apart. But tonight the noise kept him awake with his thoughts, which were not good company.

“I don’t know, Kisa,” he said, climbing out of bed to scratch the owl’s head, “I can’t think what I did wrong. Should I have tried harder? Or given him more space? Maybe I should try writing to Tuuri instead.” Even as he said it, he knew it was a bad idea. It would probably just upset Onni even more. And he wasn’t going to send his owl out in weather like this. “I guess I should just try to sleep. Maybe in the morning I’ll have better ideas.”

As he crossed back to his bed, something tapped at the window. Reynir paused. It had sounded just like Kisa when she wanted to come back inside, but she wasn’t—

_Tap tap tap._

Reynir whirled to stare at the window. At first he couldn’t see anything, only dark, rain-soaked night. Then lightning flashed, illuminating the lump of pale feathers frantically beating at the glass.

_Tap tap tap THUMP._

He flung the window open, dodging back in a hurry as an enormous owl burst into the room. Wind and rain came along with it—by the time he managed to get the window closed again, his pajamas and curtains were soaked. The owl was in an even worse state. Its feathers stuck out every which way, and it trembled so hard it could barely right itself. Carefully, Reynir crouched down beside it.

“Hey,” he said, pitching his voice low, “It’s okay. You’re safe now. I’ll get a towel, and try to dry you off, and—”

But before he could finish, the owl’s form twisted. It grew, and the feathers gave way to hair and skin, until suddenly there was a sopping-wet person on his floor instead.

“Onni!” He’d recognize that hair anywhere, even soaked and standing on end. Onni rolled onto his back with a groan.

“Hey.” He tried to sit up, but a grimace crossed his face. “I’m...sorry. I should have—not used to flying—”

Reynir shushed him. “Stop trying to talk, you’re exhausted. Come on, let me help you.” He ignored Onni’s grumble of protest and went running for towels.

The next several minutes were a blur of activity. Reynir ran up and down the stairs as quietly as he could, fetching towels and tea and an extra robe from Bjarni’s old room. He managed to get Onni into dry clothes and propped up in bed with blankets piled on top of him, then snuck downstairs one last time for a plate of sandwiches. Only then did he find a dry set of pajamas for himself and sit carefully at the foot of the bed.

“So. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No. Yes. I…” Onni kept his gaze on the quilt, clenching his fingers in the fabric. “I guess it can’t hurt to tell you now, you saw.” He sighed. “I’m an unregistered animagus.”

“Um. Okay?” Reynir waited for Onni to keep going, but he didn’t. “And...that means what, exactly?”

So Onni had to explain what an animagus was, and why it was bad to be an unregistered one. “I _tried_ to register,” he said, turning the teacup around in his hands, “but I’m not allowed to sign any legal documents until I’m seventeen. So I took it home to Grandmother, and she was so busy, and when I finally cornered her...she wouldn’t do it.”

“What? Why?”

Onni drained his teacup. “She doesn’t trust the Ministry. She thinks if I register they’ll have some kind of hold on me, use it against me. She didn’t even want us to go to Hogwarts, you know. If she’d been allowed, I think she would have kept us at home.”

“Oh.” Reynir thought about that, tearing pieces off a sandwich. “I’m glad she didn’t get her way, then. Otherwise we wouldn’t have met.”

“Right.” Onni ran a hand through his hair, making it stick out more than ever. “So after we fought about that, I knew she wouldn’t let me come here. But then...well, then we caught Lalli coming out of the fireplace, and everything got even worse.”

Reynir blinked. “The...the fireplace?” He knew Onni’s cousin had a fondness for hiding in small, dark spaces, but the fireplace was unusual even for him.

“Yes. Do you remember when I explained Floo Powder to you? It turns out Sigrun was on to something—Lalli has been sneaking off to visit Emil all summer, traveling over the Floo network. And Emil’s family are all old Ministry goons, so Grandmother was _livid._ Then Tuuri announced she was going to spend the rest of the summer at Sigrun’s and took off on her broom. I followed her and convinced her to come back, but she laid out this whole argument about why Grandmother should let her visit “one of the oldest and most influential wizarding families of our time”. It looked like Grandmother was actually going to give in and let her go, too.”

“Wow.” Reynir shifted around so he could stretch his legs out next to Onni’s. “So what did you do?”

A blush crept up Onni’s neck. “Er. I jumped out the window, turned into an owl, and flew here?”

“You WHAT?” Reynir shook his head. “You just...flew off? In a thunderstorm?”

“I didn’t mean to! I only wanted to get away. But then when I was flying, I started to think, and...well. I hated how I left things with you.” Onni turned to face Reynir, mouth set in a stubborn line. “I shouldn’t have cut you off when things were going wrong. You didn’t deserve that. And…” He swallowed hard. “I missed you, okay? Your letters were the best part of the summer. I thought, since I was gone anyway, I might as well take you up on your offer to visit. Assuming it’s still okay?”

Reynir smiled. “Of course it’s okay! I’ve only been asking you all summer. I can show you the sheep, and the internet, and all the boring chores that would be way easier with magic, and—” a yawn escaped him. “But...maybe we can talk about all that tomorrow. And what to do about your registration, and Lalli, and…” this time Onni was the one who yawned. “Right. Sleep now, more talking tomorrow.” He flicked the light off and settled into bed, stealing one of the quilts from Onni’s pile to wrap around him. “Hey, Onni?”

“Yeah?” He already sounded half asleep.

“I’m really glad you’re here.”

He heard the soft huff of breath that was Onni’s laugh. “So am I.”

**Author's Note:**

> The long-ass end note that was here before has been moved to the series notes instead. Curious to know which character is in which house, how old they are in relation to each other, or what the family dynamics are like? Go check it out!


End file.
